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Hammarlund HQ-170
Hello to the group, I am setting up a vintage station and just bought
an unknown/untested HQ-170 on eBay. Can anyone tell me what to check for or what to expect when this jewel arrives? Let me know what you think..good or bad.. Thanks, Randy, WB5KCM |
Hammarlund HQ-170
Your're ****ed blue and screwed, worst piece of **** ever made! What ever
possessed you to bid on crap like that? k "wb5kcm" wrote in message ups.com... Hello to the group, I am setting up a vintage station and just bought an unknown/untested HQ-170 on eBay. Can anyone tell me what to check for or what to expect when this jewel arrives? Let me know what you think..good or bad.. Thanks, Randy, WB5KCM |
Hammarlund HQ-170
I just hope you didn't buy it from radiomart
-- Clif Holland KA5IPF www.avvid.com "wb5kcm" wrote in message ups.com... Hello to the group, I am setting up a vintage station and just bought an unknown/untested HQ-170 on eBay. Can anyone tell me what to check for or what to expect when this jewel arrives? Let me know what you think..good or bad.. Thanks, Randy, WB5KCM |
Hammarlund HQ-170
Randy,
I have both a 170C and a 170AC. The audio of Hammarlunds is not that great but certainly usable for a vintage station. The HQ-170 uses a tube rectifier, vs solid-state in the 170A. The A model also has an SO239 coax connector and a flip-up cabinet top. Beyond that, there's not a lot of difference. If the fuse is not blown, the rig is probably OK to fire up, as-is. If you have a Variac available, its always a good idea to bring it up slowly the first time. Problems will probably be alignment. The 170/A is triple conversion and if someone has been hacking at the alignment, there's no telling how well it will, or won't, perform. One failure mode is the 2.58 MHz oscillator. If the upper bands are dead, look into that part of the circuitry. Its been my experience with 4-5 of these that power supply problems and receiver alignment are the bugaboos. That, and the crystal oscillator. Fortunately, Hammarlund didn't use any of the nasty types of paper caps. In fact, most are disc types. If the receiver is in nice physical condition, I'd say you may well have a keeper. I use one with a Viking Valiant I and find it just fine on 75 and 40 meters. If yours doesn't have a clock, they can be had from after-market sources. That goes for the clock lens, too. Oh yeah... Hammarlund dials have a habit of really smoking up (getting very dirty). One can remove the front panel fairly easily (more info if you need it) and it will really brighten things up! Good luck with your project. de K3HVG wb5kcm wrote: Hello to the group, I am setting up a vintage station and just bought an unknown/untested HQ-170 on eBay. Can anyone tell me what to check for or what to expect when this jewel arrives? Let me know what you think..good or bad.. Thanks, Randy, WB5KCM |
Hammarlund HQ-170
But, if you clean the dials, do not use window cleaner. Be careful with the
lettering as it is very difficult to put back after it is washed off. In truth, none of these old receivers compare to the newer ones - and they probably are chosen on aesthetics. If you like the looks, it is a good radio. Colin K7FM |
Hammarlund HQ-170
Thanks for this info...very useful !
Randy, WB5KCM On Jan 23, 2:59 pm, K3HVG wrote: Randy, I have both a 170C and a 170AC. The audio of Hammarlunds is not that great but certainly usable for a vintage station. The HQ-170 uses a tube rectifier, vs solid-state in the 170A. The A model also has an SO239 coax connector and a flip-up cabinet top. Beyond that, there's not a lot of difference. If the fuse is not blown, the rig is probably OK to fire up, as-is. If you have a Variac available, its always a good idea to bring it up slowly the first time. Problems will probably be alignment. The 170/A is triple conversion and if someone has been hacking at the alignment, there's no telling how well it will, or won't, perform. One failure mode is the 2.58 MHz oscillator. If the upper bands are dead, look into that part of the circuitry. Its been my experience with 4-5 of these that power supply problems and receiver alignment are the bugaboos. That, and the crystal oscillator. Fortunately, Hammarlund didn't use any of the nasty types of paper caps. In fact, most are disc types. If the receiver is in nice physical condition, I'd say you may well have a keeper. I use one with a Viking Valiant I and find it just fine on 75 and 40 meters. If yours doesn't have a clock, they can be had from after-market sources. That goes for the clock lens, too. Oh yeah... Hammarlund dials have a habit of really smoking up (getting very dirty). One can remove the front panel fairly easily (more info if you need it) and it will really brighten things up! Good luck with your project. de K3HVG wb5kcm wrote: Hello to the group, I am setting up a vintage station and just bought an unknown/untested HQ-170 on eBay. Can anyone tell me what to check for or what to expect when this jewel arrives? Let me know what you think..good or bad.. Thanks, Randy, WB5KCM- Hide quoted text -- Show quoted text - |
Hammarlund HQ-170
Thanks Colin, very good advice!
On Jan 23, 8:00 pm, "COLIN LAMB" wrote: But, if you clean the dials, do not use window cleaner. Be careful with the lettering as it is very difficult to put back after it is washed off. In truth, none of these old receivers compare to the newer ones - and they probably are chosen on aesthetics. If you like the looks, it is a good radio. Colin K7FM |
Hammarlund HQ-170
Hey Clif,
I bought it from "Chief's Trading Post" in Wichata, Ks. Do you know Dale, NG5R ? I believe he is there in Mabank. Thanks, Randy, WB5KCM On Jan 23, 2:39 pm, "Clif Holland" wrote: I just hope you didn't buy it from radiomart -- Clif Holland KA5IPFwww.avvid.com "wb5kcm" wrote in oglegroups.com... Hello to the group, I am setting up a vintage station and just bought an unknown/untested HQ-170 on eBay. Can anyone tell me what to check for or what to expect when this jewel arrives? Let me know what you think..good or bad.. Thanks, Randy, WB5KCM- Hide quoted text -- Show quoted text - |
Hammarlund HQ-170
I owned an HQ-170C a few years back. As I recall, the small capacitors were
most or all ceramics, so you won't have to replace a bunch of leaky paper caps. I would recommend replacing the electrolytic capacitors, however. After about 40 years, they are probably either shot or about to fail, whether or not the set has been used. And the consequences of a power supply failure can be expensive. This article gives some basic information about recapping: http://antiqueradio.org/recap.htm . Especially if it has been sitting unused for years, the receiver will also benefit by cleaning of the controls with a good spray cleaner such as DeOxit. Don't forget the bandswitch. Regards, Phil Nelson Phil's Old Radios http://antiqueradio.org/index.html |
Hammarlund HQ-170
The HQ-170 was the packaging of the HQ-110 and the HC-10. The HQ-110 was a
rather ordinary, but small and compact, amateur band only receiver. The HC-10 is a nice if adapter that converts the normal 455 kHz if to a much lower frequency, then adds a product detector. The HC-10 is highly sought after. Selectivity can be quite narrow, and it has a product detector, which a number of other old boatanchors do not have. The main limitations of the HQ-170 would be stability and frequency readout on 10 and 15 meters. Since the high frequency oscillator is close to the ham band, drift is more of a problem than with the receivers that have a crystal controlled front end. But, on 80 or 40 or 160, who cares. Stability is ok there. IF bandwidth is wide enough for good am, but some audio engineer came up with the bizarre idea to vary the fidelity of the audio output depending upon the avc voltage. It was called "Auto-Response" and assured distortion when there was qsb. The fact that they promoted it rather than hiding it never did make sense. My neighbor had one and worked a hundred countries on sideband with it and probably 50 countries on 6 meters am, so it was good enough. Each of these old receivers has their qualities and quirks - which makes them almost human. 73, Colin K7FM |
Hammarlund HQ-170
On Tue, 23 Jan 2007 15:59:12 -0500, K3HVG wrote:
Randy, I have both a 170C and a 170AC. The audio of Hammarlunds is not that great but certainly usable for a vintage station. The HQ-170 uses a tube rectifier, vs solid-state in the 170A. The A model also has an SO239 coax connector and a flip-up cabinet top. Beyond that, there's not a lot of difference. If the fuse is not blown, the rig is probably OK to fire up, as-is. If you have a Variac available, its always a good idea to bring it up slowly the first time. Problems will probably be alignment. The 170/A is triple conversion and if someone has been hacking at the alignment, there's no telling how well it will, or won't, perform. One failure mode is the 2.58 MHz oscillator. If the upper bands are dead, look into that part of the circuitry. Its been my experience with 4-5 of these that power supply problems and receiver alignment are the bugaboos. That, and the crystal oscillator. Fortunately, Hammarlund didn't use any of the nasty types of paper caps. In fact, most are disc types. If the receiver is in nice physical condition, I'd say you may well have a keeper. I use one with a Viking Valiant I and find it just fine on 75 and 40 meters. If yours doesn't have a clock, they can be had from after-market sources. That goes for the clock lens, too. Oh yeah... Hammarlund dials have a habit of really smoking up (getting very dirty). One can remove the front panel fairly easily (more info if you need it) and it will really brighten things up! Good luck with your project. de K3HVG wb5kcm wrote: Hello to the group, I am setting up a vintage station and just bought an unknown/untested HQ-170 on eBay. Can anyone tell me what to check for or what to expect when this jewel arrives? Let me know what you think..good or bad.. Thanks, Randy, WB5KCM Didn't the differences with the HQ-170A include the fact that they added a separate filament transmformer or perhaps just kept the power transformer live (don't remember which), in order to run the VFO tube filaments on a continuous basis? I added that mod to my HQ-170 and it tremendously reduced its warmup drift. After doing that, my only real quarrel with my HQ-170 was I felt that it had a rather high internal noise level while using narrow bandwidths with weak signal CW. It was annoying since I work CW about 75% of the time. I ended up selling it for a good price about three years after I bought it. I replaced it with an RME 6900 receiver. Now THAT was a great receiver for a vacuum tube boat anchor! Doug/WA1TUT |
Hammarlund HQ-170
"wb5kcm" wrote in message ups.com... Hello to the group, I am setting up a vintage station and just bought an unknown/untested HQ-170 on eBay. Can anyone tell me what to check for or what to expect when this jewel arrives? Let me know what you think..good or bad.. Thanks, Randy, WB5KCM Randy, I used one from about 1963 to 1975. At one point I had a strange problem. It turned out that the voltage regulator was no longer regulating properly. I changed the tube and it was amazing. One problem with the 170 family is that the WARC bands were not covered. The 180 can be used on all bands and has the HC-10/SPC-10 guts built in. I found my 170 to be quite stable after about 1/2 hour of being on. Best Luck! Ed, N5EI |
Hammarlund HQ-170
Yep, you are correct. They kept the 1st mixer and LO tubes lit....... I
forgot that point. Didn't the differences with the HQ-170A include the fact that they added a separate filament transmformer or perhaps just kept the power transformer live (don't remember which), in order to run the VFO tube filaments on a continuous basis? |
Hammarlund HQ-170
COLIN LAMB wrote:
snip IF bandwidth is wide enough for good am, but some audio engineer came up with the bizarre idea to vary the fidelity of the audio output depending upon the avc voltage. It was called "Auto-Response" and assured distortion when there was qsb. The fact that they promoted it rather than hiding it never did make sense. Hi, The audio feedback percentage is not dependent on the AVC voltage, but on the setting of the audio gain pot. If you leave the audio gain at a low setting, you get more negative feedback, hence a smoother audio response. The feedback is via resistor R80 (100 Ohms) at the audio output transformer secondary, to R77 (47 Ohms) between the bottom of the 1 Meg audio gain pot and ground. My HQ-170 audio sounded a lot better with the cardboard back removed from the matching Hammarlund speaker housing. My HQ-170 responded very well to an alignment, although it is more drifty than I like. I picked up a small filament transformer for the VFO and mixer tube continuous filament voltage mod, but haven't quite gotten around to installing it yet. (Can it be 5 years, now?) 73, Ed Knobloch |
Hammarlund HQ-170
On Tue, 23 Jan 2007, wb5kcm wrote: Hello to the group, I am setting up a vintage station and just bought an unknown/untested HQ-170 on eBay. Can anyone tell me what to check for or what to expect when this jewel arrives? Let me know what you think..good or bad.. Thanks, Randy, WB5KCM Here would be my things to check, and priority: 1. Does it turn on? 2. Can you hear stations with it? 3. Is the sensitivity up to where it should be, or low (weak tube(s)?)? 4. What is the calibration like on all bands? 5. Functionality of other stuff (AVC speed, slot filter, etc.) 6. Scratchiness/dirt in bandswitch, and pots. I bought a HQ-170 at a hamfest several years ago and it wasn't in the best or worst of conditions. I heard stations but the S-meter needle never went up all that high. I actually used the receiver for many contacts. Yes, there is warm-up drift (maybe 10 kc on 75 meters). Also, I noticed that the receiver sensitivity actually got a little better after an hour's warmup. Also, the crystal calibrator never worked cold (also, worked fine after an hour warmup). Selectivity was better than on my Icom 707 and you could move the BFO freq to adjust the position of the steep sides of the IF passband to beat some close signals. However, my slot filter does not work. My 170 is 160 through 6 meters; I think maybe earlier ones were only 160 through 10 meters. Overall, its not too bad. And, when I get done with some other higher priority work, I'm going to go through the tubes and check whether they are weak or OK. Yes, I'm going towards "retro" myself. Ultimate goal is to build (with drill and soldering iron) a complete, total, homebrew tube station (AM and SSB) mainly for 75 and 160). I already have most of a total homebrew transmitter finished (including pair of 813s in GG). You can see some of this at: http://www.panix.com/~asd __________________________________________________ _ Public Notice: Unless you are on my whitelist for this email address, all email to this address ) is now automatically sent permanently into nonexistence (i.e.: /dev/null) without ever being read. If you need to communicate with me privately, then indicate so in a newsgroup post or response to one of my posts. |
Hammarlund HQ-170
Thanks Straydog and others...lots of very good advice. Hopefully the
HQ-170 will arrive soon but I expect it early next week. I have printed out the manual and some of the other tech notes. Making a book with all this info. I enjoy listening to the Amers on 75 and 160 and hope to have my own vintage station setup eventually. This HQ-170 is my first item. After I get the HQ-170 going well, I will start looking for a transmitter. Thanks again and 73 de Randy, WB5KCM Fort Worth, Texas On Jan 25, 5:07 pm, Straydog wrote: On Tue, 23 Jan 2007, wb5kcm wrote: Hello to the group, I am setting up a vintage station and just bought an unknown/untested HQ-170 on eBay. Can anyone tell me what to check for or what to expect when this jewel arrives? Let me know what you think..good or bad.. Thanks, Randy, WB5KCMHere would be my things to check, and priority: 1. Does it turn on? 2. Can you hear stations with it? 3. Is the sensitivity up to where it should be, or low (weak tube(s)?)? 4. What is the calibration like on all bands? 5. Functionality of other stuff (AVC speed, slot filter, etc.) 6. Scratchiness/dirt in bandswitch, and pots. I bought a HQ-170 at a hamfest several years ago and it wasn't in the best or worst of conditions. I heard stations but the S-meter needle never went up all that high. I actually used the receiver for many contacts. Yes, there is warm-up drift (maybe 10 kc on 75 meters). Also, I noticed that the receiver sensitivity actually got a little better after an hour's warmup. Also, the crystal calibrator never worked cold (also, worked fine after an hour warmup). Selectivity was better than on my Icom 707 and you could move the BFO freq to adjust the position of the steep sides of the IF passband to beat some close signals. However, my slot filter does not work. My 170 is 160 through 6 meters; I think maybe earlier ones were only 160 through 10 meters. Overall, its not too bad. And, when I get done with some other higher priority work, I'm going to go through the tubes and check whether they are weak or OK. Yes, I'm going towards "retro" myself. Ultimate goal is to build (with drill and soldering iron) a complete, total, homebrew tube station (AM and SSB) mainly for 75 and 160). I already have most of a total homebrew transmitter finished (including pair of 813s in GG). You can see some of this at: http://www.panix.com/~asd __________________________________________________ _ Public Notice: Unless you are on my whitelist for this email address, all email to this address ) is now automatically sent permanently into nonexistence (i.e.: /dev/null) without ever being read. If you need to communicate with me privately, then indicate so in a newsgroup post or response to one of my posts. |
Hammarlund HQ-170
Hi Chuck:
Well, that was from memory. You are right it is an audio feedback based upon the gain control. The Drake 2B had negative feedback audio and sounded better. The last one I worked on, someone had run 100 watts into the antenna input and that required manufacturing new coils. The forms were ruined. It would not have been so bad, but when the radio quit, he switched bands to find out why - with the transmitter still on. 73, Colin K7FM |
Hammarlund HQ-170
And, that was Ed, rather than Chuck. I sometimes get confused after
midnight and before 11:59 pm K7FM |
Hammarlund HQ-170
1/26/07: Well I got the HQ-170 in via UPS last night. Unpacked the box
and put it on the bench. Noticed several things bouncing around inside. Removed the 3 case screws from the rear and pulled off the cover. What was rattling around was about 3 tube shields. I replaced these and straightened several tubes. Checked the fuse and it looks good. Made several checks to make sure there was no shorts, all checked good. Don't see any burned components. I do see a couple interesting items: 1. The first IF transformer, T1 has had several things soldered to it. Looks like it may have been replaced some time in the past. 2. The can transformer at the rear of the chassis near V13 has been removed and it looks like an open type adjustable transformer has been installed in its place. There is a coax cable connected to this transformer that is connected to the vernier tuning cap. Connected a speaker and antenna. Plugged it in and turned it on. Got one dial lamp burning and all the tubes look to be lighting up. After a short warmup period, I can hear some signals on 40 meters....very nice, the SSB and AM signals sound good. Trying the other bands...I can hear some...only a couple signals on 75 meters and nothing on 160. I can hear static on 20 meters and the other higher frequency bands, I can hear static but no signals. I can hear the calibrator on these bands. Looking at the overall physical condition of the receiver it has all the knobs, including the clock knobs. The plastic lens on the clock is cracked. The cabinet has a few paint abrasions, a couple dents. Needs cleaning inside and out. Looks like I have a good project here. Hope to get started on it this weekend. Appreciate all the comments and hints on the restoration. If you see something I need to look for from my description please pass it on to me. Thanks and best 73 de Randy, wb5kcm On Jan 25, 5:25 pm, "wb5kcm" wrote: Thanks Straydog and others...lots of very good advice. Hopefully the HQ-170 will arrive soon but I expect it early next week. I have printed out the manual and some of the other tech notes. Making a book with all this info. I enjoy listening to the Amers on 75 and 160 and hope to have my own vintage station setup eventually. This HQ-170 is my first item. After I get the HQ-170 going well, I will start looking for a transmitter. Thanks again and 73 de Randy, WB5KCM Fort Worth, Texas On Jan 25, 5:07 pm, Straydog wrote: On Tue, 23 Jan 2007, wb5kcm wrote: Hello to the group, I am setting up a vintage station and just bought an unknown/untested HQ-170 on eBay. Can anyone tell me what to check for or what to expect when this jewel arrives? Let me know what you think..good or bad.. Thanks, Randy, WB5KCMHere would be my things to check, and priority: 1. Does it turn on? 2. Can you hear stations with it? 3. Is the sensitivity up to where it should be, or low (weak tube(s)?)? 4. What is the calibration like on all bands? 5. Functionality of other stuff (AVC speed, slot filter, etc.) 6. Scratchiness/dirt in bandswitch, and pots. I bought a HQ-170 at a hamfest several years ago and it wasn't in the best or worst of conditions. I heard stations but the S-meter needle never went up all that high. I actually used the receiver for many contacts. Yes, there is warm-up drift (maybe 10 kc on 75 meters). Also, I noticed that the receiver sensitivity actually got a little better after an hour's warmup. Also, the crystal calibrator never worked cold (also, worked fine after an hour warmup). Selectivity was better than on my Icom 707 and you could move the BFO freq to adjust the position of the steep sides of the IF passband to beat some close signals. However, my slot filter does not work. My 170 is 160 through 6 meters; I think maybe earlier ones were only 160 through 10 meters. Overall, its not too bad. And, when I get done with some other higher priority work, I'm going to go through the tubes and check whether they are weak or OK. Yes, I'm going towards "retro" myself. Ultimate goal is to build (with drill and soldering iron) a complete, total, homebrew tube station (AM and SSB) mainly for 75 and 160). I already have most of a total homebrew transmitter finished (including pair of 813s in GG). You can see some of this at: http://www.panix.com/~asd __________________________________________________ _ Public Notice: Unless you are on my whitelist for this email address, all email to this address ) is now automatically sent permanently into nonexistence (i.e.: /dev/null) without ever being read. If you need to communicate with me privately, then indicate so in a newsgroup post or response to one of my posts.- Hide quoted text -- Show quoted text - |
Hammarlund HQ-170
I posted some photos of my HQ-170 project on my Flickr site if anyone
maybe interested in taking a look, let me know what you think...Thanks http://www.flickr.com/photos/32773176@N00/ On Jan 26, 6:25 pm, "wb5kcm" wrote: 1/26/07: Well I got the HQ-170 in via UPS last night. Unpacked the box and put it on the bench. Noticed several things bouncing around inside. Removed the 3 case screws from the rear and pulled off the cover. What was rattling around was about 3 tube shields. I replaced these and straightened several tubes. Checked the fuse and it looks good. Made several checks to make sure there was no shorts, all checked good. Don't see any burned components. I do see a couple interesting items: 1. The first IF transformer, T1 has had several things soldered to it. Looks like it may have been replaced some time in the past. 2. The can transformer at the rear of the chassis near V13 has been removed and it looks like an open type adjustable transformer has been installed in its place. There is a coax cable connected to this transformer that is connected to the vernier tuning cap. Connected a speaker and antenna. Plugged it in and turned it on. Got one dial lamp burning and all the tubes look to be lighting up. After a short warmup period, I can hear some signals on 40 meters....very nice, the SSB and AM signals sound good. Trying the other bands...I can hear some...only a couple signals on 75 meters and nothing on 160. I can hear static on 20 meters and the other higher frequency bands, I can hear static but no signals. I can hear the calibrator on these bands. Looking at the overall physical condition of the receiver it has all the knobs, including the clock knobs. The plastic lens on the clock is cracked. The cabinet has a few paint abrasions, a couple dents. Needs cleaning inside and out. Looks like I have a good project here. Hope to get started on it this weekend. Appreciate all the comments and hints on the restoration. If you see something I need to look for from my description please pass it on to me. Thanks and best 73 de Randy, wb5kcm On Jan 25, 5:25 pm, "wb5kcm" wrote: Thanks Straydog and others...lots of very good advice. Hopefully the HQ-170 will arrive soon but I expect it early next week. I have printed out the manual and some of the other tech notes. Making a book with all this info. I enjoy listening to the Amers on 75 and 160 and hope to have my own vintage station setup eventually. This HQ-170 is my first item. After I get the HQ-170 going well, I will start looking for a transmitter. Thanks again and 73 de Randy, WB5KCM Fort Worth, Texas On Jan 25, 5:07 pm, Straydog wrote: On Tue, 23 Jan 2007, wb5kcm wrote: Hello to the group, I am setting up a vintage station and just bought an unknown/untested HQ-170 on eBay. Can anyone tell me what to check for or what to expect when this jewel arrives? Let me know what you think..good or bad.. Thanks, Randy, WB5KCMHere would be my things to check, and priority: 1. Does it turn on? 2. Can you hear stations with it? 3. Is the sensitivity up to where it should be, or low (weak tube(s)?)? 4. What is the calibration like on all bands? 5. Functionality of other stuff (AVC speed, slot filter, etc.) 6. Scratchiness/dirt in bandswitch, and pots. I bought a HQ-170 at a hamfest several years ago and it wasn't in the best or worst of conditions. I heard stations but the S-meter needle never went up all that high. I actually used the receiver for many contacts. Yes, there is warm-up drift (maybe 10 kc on 75 meters). Also, I noticed that the receiver sensitivity actually got a little better after an hour's warmup. Also, the crystal calibrator never worked cold (also, worked fine after an hour warmup). Selectivity was better than on my Icom 707 and you could move the BFO freq to adjust the position of the steep sides of the IF passband to beat some close signals. However, my slot filter does not work. My 170 is 160 through 6 meters; I think maybe earlier ones were only 160 through 10 meters. Overall, its not too bad. And, when I get done with some other higher priority work, I'm going to go through the tubes and check whether they are weak or OK. Yes, I'm going towards "retro" myself. Ultimate goal is to build (with drill and soldering iron) a complete, total, homebrew tube station (AM and SSB) mainly for 75 and 160). I already have most of a total homebrew transmitter finished (including pair of 813s in GG). You can see some of this at: http://www.panix.com/~asd __________________________________________________ _ Public Notice: Unless you are on my whitelist for this email address, all email to this address ) is now automatically sent permanently into nonexistence (i.e.: /dev/null) without ever being read. If you need to communicate with me privately, then indicate so in a newsgroup post or response to one of my posts.- Hide quoted text -- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -- Show quoted text - |
Hammarlund HQ-170
You do get your hands dirty. That's a lot of homebrew. What I find
admirable is that you just go ahead and DO it without obsessing over a perfect front panel and such. I can't begin to count the number of projects I've thought about taking on but never did because my workshop skills are so-so and I knew I couldn't make the finished products look the way they did in the Handbook, so why bother? It's a dumb attitude, but I'll bet it's shared by a fair number of hams. I did build some things, but nothing ambitious. You have my respect. On Jan 25, 6:07 pm, Straydog wrote: Yes, I'm going towards "retro" myself. Ultimate goal is to build (with drill and soldering iron) a complete, total, homebrew tube station (AM and SSB) mainly for 75 and 160). I already have most of a total homebrew transmitter finished (including pair of 813s in GG). You can see some of this at: http://www.panix.com/~asd |
Hammarlund HQ-170
wb5kcm wrote:
I posted some photos of my HQ-170 project on my Flickr site if anyone maybe interested in taking a look, let me know what you think...Thanks http://www.flickr.com/photos/32773176@N00/ On Jan 26, 6:25 pm, "wb5kcm" wrote: The radio looks to be in better than 'fair' condition. Good luck with restoration. |
Hammarlund HQ-170
Hello to the group, I am setting up a vintage station and just bought
an unknown/untested HQ-170 on eBay. Mine is a 170A-VHF_no clock. The odd ball problem I had was the 6C4 in the first osc caused noise with increased rx sig strength. The original was dead so one was installed from a brand new stick of NIB RCA 6C4s. Sometimes the dials slip too but I still like the radio OK. Hammys are OK here. HQ-120, HQ-150, HQ-110A, HQ-170A-VHF, EAC R390A ( #237 1960 contract) EdZ |
Hammarlund HQ-170
I posted some photos of my HQ-170 project on my Flickr site if anyone
maybe interested in taking a look, let me know what you think...Thanks http://www.flickr.com/photos/32773176@N00/ Hey, Thats a great radio! No abuse, all the parts, you did well, con-BoatAnchor-gratulations. EdZ |
Hammarlund HQ-170
On Feb 10, 11:31 pm, "Ed Zeranski" wrote:
I posted some photos of my HQ-170 project on my Flickr site if anyone maybe interested in taking a look, let me know what you think...Thanks http://www.flickr.com/photos/32773176@N00/ Hey, Thats a great radio! No abuse, all the parts, you did well, con-BoatAnchor-gratulations. EdZ Thanks EdZ, I just picked up another HQ-170 yesterday for a parts source. It is much cleaner than mine but is missing several major components. It is s/n 5792 and my original HQ-170(the one in the photos) is s/n 1902. Actually the one in the photos has been cleaned up and looks even better now. Once I have the new front panel, knobs, etc I will post more photos. Working on this HQ-170 has been a lot of fun. I am now in the process of putting in the BFO coil and the 160 meter antenna transformer. Once I have all the components installed and checked I will finish the alignment. Once I have the radio playing like it should, I will start swaping the front panels, dials, knobs etc. Thanks for the tip about the 6C4 HF oscillator, I will watch for that. I tried to buy a 170 VHF model off Ebay recently but missed it and I think it sold for ~$140, I wish I had made that deal. Thanks for the comments and best 73 de Randy, WB5KCM |
Hammarlund HQ-170
On Jan 26, 10:06 pm, "wb5kcm" wrote:
I posted some photos of my HQ-170 project on my Flickr site if anyone maybe interested in taking a look, let me know what you think...Thankshttp://www.flickr.com/photos/32773176@N00/ On Jan 26, 6:25 pm, "wb5kcm" wrote: 1/26/07: Well I got the HQ-170 in via UPS last night. Unpacked the box and put it on the bench. Noticed several things bouncing around inside. Removed the 3 case screws from the rear and pulled off the cover. What was rattling around was about 3 tube shields. I replaced these and straightened several tubes. Checked the fuse and it looks good. Made several checks to make sure there was no shorts, all checked good. Don't see any burned components. I do see a couple interesting items: 1. The first IF transformer, T1 has had several things soldered to it. Looks like it may have been replaced some time in the past. 2. The can transformer at the rear of the chassis near V13 has been removed and it looks like an open type adjustable transformer has been installed in its place. There is a coax cable connected to this transformer that is connected to the vernier tuning cap. Connected a speaker and antenna. Plugged it in and turned it on. Got one dial lamp burning and all the tubes look to be lighting up. After a short warmup period, I can hear some signals on 40 meters....very nice, the SSB and AM signals sound good. Trying the other bands...I can hear some...only a couple signals on 75 meters and nothing on 160. I can hear static on 20 meters and the other higher frequency bands, I can hear static but no signals. I can hear the calibrator on these bands. Looking at the overall physical condition of the receiver it has all the knobs, including the clock knobs. The plastic lens on the clock is cracked. The cabinet has a few paint abrasions, a couple dents. Needs cleaning inside and out. Looks like I have a good project here. Hope to get started on it this weekend. Appreciate all the comments and hints on the restoration. If you see something I need to look for from my description please pass it on to me. Thanks and best 73 de Randy, wb5kcm On Jan 25, 5:25 pm, "wb5kcm" wrote: Thanks Straydog and others...lots of very good advice. Hopefully the HQ-170 will arrive soon but I expect it early next week. I have printed out the manual and some of the other tech notes. Making a book with all this info. I enjoy listening to the Amers on 75 and 160 and hope to have my own vintage station setup eventually. This HQ-170 is my first item. After I get the HQ-170 going well, I will start looking for a transmitter. Thanks again and 73 de Randy, WB5KCM Fort Worth, Texas On Jan 25, 5:07 pm, Straydog wrote: On Tue, 23 Jan 2007, wb5kcm wrote: Hello to the group, I am setting up a vintage station and just bought an unknown/untested HQ-170 on eBay. Can anyone tell me what to check for or what to expect when this jewel arrives? Let me know what you think..good or bad.. Thanks, Randy, WB5KCMHere would be my things to check, and priority: 1. Does it turn on? 2. Can you hear stations with it? 3. Is the sensitivity up to where it should be, or low (weak tube(s)?)? 4. What is the calibration like on all bands? 5. Functionality of other stuff (AVC speed, slot filter, etc.) 6. Scratchiness/dirt in bandswitch, and pots. I bought a HQ-170 at a hamfest several years ago and it wasn't in the best or worst of conditions. I heard stations but the S-meter needle never went up all that high. I actually used the receiver for many contacts. Yes, there is warm-up drift (maybe 10 kc on 75 meters). Also, I noticed that the receiver sensitivity actually got a little better after an hour's warmup. Also, the crystal calibrator never worked cold (also, worked fine after an hour warmup). Selectivity was better than on my Icom 707 and you could move the BFO freq to adjust the position of the steep sides of the IF passband to beat some close signals. However, my slot filter does not work. My 170 is 160 through 6 meters; I think maybe earlier ones were only 160 through 10 meters. Overall, its not too bad. And, when I get done with some other higher priority work, I'm going to go through the tubes and check whether they are weak or OK. Yes, I'm going towards "retro" myself. Ultimate goal is to build (with drill and soldering iron) a complete, total, homebrew tube station (AM and SSB) mainly for 75 and 160). I already have most of a total homebrew transmitter finished (including pair of 813s in GG). You can see some of this at: http://www.panix.com/~asd __________________________________________________ _ Public Notice: Unless you are on my whitelist for this email address, all email to this address ) is now automatically sent permanently into nonexistence (i.e.: /dev/null) without ever being read. If you need to communicate with me privately, then indicate so in a newsgroup post or response to one of my posts.- Hide quoted text -- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - I posted my "completed HQ-170" photos on my Flckr site. Let me know what you think. Thanks, Randy, WB5KCM http://www.flickr.com/photos/wb5kcm/...7594523189590/ |
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